Dispersion of Carbon Nanotubes in Polycarbonate and Its Effect on the Composite Properties

The effect of the dispersion state of carbon nanotubes in polycarbonate on the rheological, mechanical and electrical properties of melt-extruded compounds is presented. The dispersion state was monitored by means of grey values distribution histograms of optical micrographs of the composites. Increasing the processing residence time, and hence the deformation induced by the surrounding polymer, increased the level of dispersion of CNTs in the matrix. This, in turn, resulted in a large improvement of the CNTs reinforcement effect and decreased composite electrical resistivity. Rheological behaviour is in agreement with these observations.